A new library for LGBTQ community

The idea was to provide a safe space where all people could learn about gender ... It’s a resource for the community.”

Pastor Josh Blakesley

By Peg Quann, Courier Times

Love in Action United Church of Christ hosts community center for LGBT community and now there’s a library as well. Visitors can now peruse books in the new library at the SAGA Center at the Love in Action United Church of Christ, Hatboro.

The library is open from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays in the Love in Action United Church of Christ building at 350 South York Road, when the SAGA (Sexual and Gender Acceptance) group meets there.

Aimee Goldsmith and her partner, Niki Kulp, are on a mission. They want to get the word out that a new library has opened in Hatboro to serve the information needs of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

“Anyone can become a member of the library who’s interested,” said Goldsmith. The library has 500 books and is looking to acquire more.

Kulp said the church has allowed the SAGA group to meet there since 2017. “There wasn’t an LGBT community center in Bucks or Montgomery, not an active one. There was definitely a gap.”

She said Philadelphia and Lehigh counties had community centers with libraries. “We thought it would be a great way to offer more resources in Bucks and Montgomery,” Kulp said.

Love in Action Pastor Josh Blakesley said the United Church of Christ’s General Synod adopted a resolution in 1985 welcoming members of the LGBT community and the church has offered a grant in support of the SAGA Center’s library.

Goldsmith said they used some grant money to start the library and are supplementing it through an Amazon Wish List where people can buy books for the library. The books are listed at SAGAHatboro.com. The library’s catalog of books is on the website as well.

People can take out books for two weeks and request a renewal if need be.

The library’s collection includes books on religion and spirituality, parenting resources — both for parents whose child has come out as LGBT, as well as on parenting in general, self-help topics, exploring gender identity and adult and young adult fiction and non-fiction. Poetry, relationship styles and childrens’ books are also available.

Histories of the LGBT movement and activism are also popular, Kulp said. “Our hope is to have a wider selection than in a public library.”

The group hopes to have the community center open every day for programs and to visit the library.

“The idea was to provide a safe space where all people could learn about gender ... It’s a resource for the community,” Blakesley said.